A 10-year effort by a University of Rhode Island scientist to develop transgenic rainbow trout has resulted in a fish with enhanced muscle growth, the school announced on Wednesday.
Terry Bradley, a URI professor of fisheries and aquaculture, said his research into the inhibition of myostatin, a protein that slows muscle growth, has obtained “stunning” results in the last two years — the transgenic fish grow 15 to 20 percent more muscle mass than standard fish.
The number of muscle fibers in fish increases throughout their lifespan, and inhibiting myostatin increases the number of those fibers, resulting in an increase in muscle growth.
If the transgenic fish meet regulatory standards, it could boost the aquaculture industry by enabling the fish to grow larger without increasing the amount of food they eat.
“Our findings are quite stunning,” said Bradley. “The results have significant implications for commercial aquaculture and provide completely novel information on the mechanisms of fish growth. The results also allow for comparisons between the mechanisms of growth of muscle in mammals versus fish, and it could shed light on muscle wasting diseases in humans.”
Bradley said he will continue to study the fish to see if the new gene affects any other genes and to determine if new husbandry practices will aid in the raising of the trout.
